Being a fan isn’t enough, it’s time Arsenal let Carl Jenkinson go

Arsenal’s Carl Jenkinson could be leaving the club this summer (Picture: AP)

As news broke early on Monday that Hull City were closing in on a £3million deal to sign Carl Jenkinson from Arsenal, a number of the London club’s fans bemoaned the fact that he should be given a chance at the club due to the fact that he is a lifelong Gooner.

There is no doubting Jenks loves the club. He comes from a family of Gooners, grew up with an Arsenal-themed bedroom and even has an engraved stone outside the Emirates.

He is one of us. When he scored his first goal for the club against Norwich his reaction was just how we all imagine we would behave if we got the chance to play and score for the club we love.

But that isn’t enough of a reason to keep him at Arsenal.

I’ll be honest, I thought that Arsenal would send him out on-loan to allow him the chance to get some regular playing time under his belt. This is still a possibility. At the time of writing, nothing has been confirmed and his future could still be an Arsenal one. It is seeming less and less likely, however.

He’s a good player. He has potential. But does he have the potential to be a top-drawer right-back at a club fighting for the title? I’m not so sure, but that is something only time will give us the answer to. If Arsene Wenger is prepared to let him go, then I am prepared to bow to the Frenchman’s superior knowledge.

Between then and now his wages need to be paid and his spot on the squad utilised.

I get where some fans are coming from. We all bemoan that football is just a job to players these days and we want them to feel the same way about the club as we do. Jenkinson does, so for our own sakes as much as for his, we want him to make it. We want his dream to not only come true but to develop in to a fairytale.

Sadly, in modern football, clubs don’t get that sort of luxury.

He got to live the dream, if only for a short while, and even though he never managed to make himself a regular, he did make himself unforgettable to Arsenal fans everywhere.